Verbiage
by CherryRoses
Summary: Dexter and Mandark are making good use of newly learned SAT Vocabulary.
1. Chapter 1

"Misanthrope." Dexter sneered up at Mandark.

"Philanthropist." His rival replied with a pugnacious smirk.

"Not only is that complimentary to me, it's a rather self-deleterious comeback on your part."

"Your altruism will be your downfall, Dexter!"

The redhead opened his mouth to respond, but instead found himself gaping.

_Altruism? What the heck does that mean! _In his mind he flipped through hundreds of pages all at once, trying to find a definition as quickly as possible before time ran out.

The other chuckled as he waited for the reply that would never come. "You don't know '_altruism_'? Ah well, another point for me."

Dexter snapped back to reality. "This is far from over, Mandark!"

"That would be 20 for me, 18 for you. Ta-ta!" With a sanguine laugh, Mandark turned and walked away.

Dexter didn't exactly know how it all started. All he knew was that at some point during their SAT Prep class, they had started a strange but entertaining game of SAT vocabulary insulting. While learning probably 300 words a day, in addition to extra words from their readings, there was no limit to how many insults they could affront each other with.

--

**Misanthrope – hater of mankind**

**Philanthropist – one who helps mankind**

**Pugnacious – combative, willing to fight**

**Deleterious – having a harmful effect **

**Sanguine – cheerful, confident**

**Yeah, I'm doing SAT vocab review. And I had this idea, so. It's Dexter and Mandark friendship, I guess.  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning I guess, there is a small plot spoiler for The Count of Monte Cristo if you ever plan on reading it someday. (LOL I know it's so random to see a classic mentioned in a fanfic)  
**

Once home, Dexter flipped through his navy-blue Oxford dictionary with great alacrity to the "A" section.

"What was it again…" He murmured under his breath. "Altruism?…A-L-T-R- Oh here it is."

He wrote the word on a flashcard as he read the definition aloud. "Altruism…concerned about others…i.e., unselfish."

Leaning back in his chair, the genius ran his fingers through his hair and frowned with bewilderment. "That's not really an insult…"

--

At the Astronominov household, the phone rang shrilly three times before Mandark picked it up.

"Hello?" He greeted as he stood in the foyer. Olga waltzed by casually, and looked at the phone with interest. She tried to listen in, but Mandark was too tall for her to reach. The next few minutes were an amusing spectacle of brother and sister fighting over the phone.

"I don't get it." Dexter stated, not bothering to give his name. After 10 years of being neighbors, they automatically knew each other by voice.

"Think Dantes and Monte Cristo." The raven-haired teen replied, bringing the cordless phone into his room for privacy.

There was a pause. "Dantes was ingenuous, thus leading to his friends' perfidy. Being unselfish didn't really have anything to do with it."

_Ingenuous…_Mandark quickly looked up the definition. "Simple, innocent, naive…" He muttered aloud unconsciously.

"Did you just look that up?"

"...No."

"Liar."

"Fine, fine. 20 for me, 19 for you."

On the other end of the receiver, an ebullient Dexter could be heard gloating.

Mandark hastily skimmed his Spark notes. "Maybe I was thinking of the Grapes of Wrath…"

"How do you confuse Grapes of Wrath with Monte Cristo?" The other laughed. "Weirdo."

"Both were extremely garrulous." Mandark protested. "Books like that make me somnolent."

His rival grinned. "What? Didn't you just love Steinbeck's lovely discursive on the journey of a turtle?"

"Oh yes, dreadfully fascinating. A turtle walks across the road, almost gets hit by a car, and then continues." The raven-haired teen rolled his eyes. "A whole chapter dedicated just to say that! It's ludicrous, really."

"Perhaps he was being paid by the word count."

"Maybe I should consider writing then. I could probably write a novel using these vocab words."

"I'd become a book critic, and send you acrimonious reviews."

"How sweet." Dexter could feel a condescending smirk through the phone. "Anyways, as much as I'd love to continue our little revilement, I've got a profuse amount of lab work to do."

"Alright. See you."

"Good-bye, Dexter." Mandark said as he walked out into the hall to hang up the receiver.

His sister, who had been standing just outside his room, jumped back in surprise. "Dexter, huh?" She asked with interest. Mandark only rolled his eyes and put the phone back.

--

Dexter, meanwhile, was patiently waiting for the click that would indicate Mandark had hung up. He was loath to admit it, but he felt a strange sense of closure when he heard that singular click followed by the ending dial tone.

Oddly enough, he heard the click…but no annoying dial tone.

"Hi Dexter!" DeeDee's shrill voice made him jump out of his seat. Dexter whipped around to see his sister with the cordless phone in hand.

"DeeDee! How long were you eavesdropping on me?" The genius exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"Since the turtle. Why, was it _personal?" _The blonde asked with a suggestive wink.

"N-no! I mean, yes! I mean…" Flustered, Dexter seemed to falter for a moment. "You shouldn't be listening to my phone calls in the first place! Get out of my room!" He threw a pillow half-heartedly at her, which she dodged on the way out.

"Ah, young love…" She giggled.

--

**Alacrity - eager readiness, speed**

**Ingenuous - means innocent and honest, without experience, but it can also mean simple and naiive and just generally stupid.  
**

**Perfidy - Deliberate treachery or deceit (Poor Edmond Dantes)**

**Garrulous - Talkative and too wordy**

**Somnolent - sleepy (The fanciest word for sleepy I've come across yet.)**

**Discursive - Lengthy with digression. IE: Rambling  
**

**Ludicrous - Ridiculous**

**Acrimonious - Caustic, resentful, or angry. Sometimes also described as "burning". Which in this case could be taken in another way, but I'll let you stretch your mind with that.**

**Revilement - a verbal attack on someone (Verb: Revile) **

**Profuse - flowing freely, generous, copious. IE: A LOT! (Fanciest word for a lot that I've seen)**


	3. Chapter 3

Dexter stared in boredom at his completed practice worksheets, which he had already triple checked with the answer key. Why did his mother even bother to shell out so much money for this course?

It was all so pointless.

He began to tap his pencil against his desk, earning contemptible glares from other students in the room who were still working.

"Stop." Someone in the room rebuked quietly. The genius immediately let go of his pencil, feeling a tinge of guilt at his irreverence. Not everyone could be expected to work at his pace, and Dexter had always emphasized the motto "Silence is Golden". The class fell back into a quiescent state once more.

The redhead continued to stare at the papers in front of him. Slowly and indolently, he lifted his pencil once again to emend certain parts of the text. Typos (or misspellings, whichever they were) had always bothered him. If there were handwritten mistakes, it was okay. But if there were typed words that had clearly not been spell-checked, it was just an embarrassment to read.

After a few moments of studiously correcting spelling errors, he heard a small chuckle. Dexter raised an eyebrow and looked around him, but all of the students appeared to remain reticent as they worked assiduously on their worksheets.

He narrowed his eyes and went back to editing the papers, when another he heard another small, transient snigger. Dexter looked over his shoulder, finally recognizing the laugh.

Mandark was staring straight at him, smiling coyly. His emerald green eyes were steady, incisive and almost penetrating. Even the way he folded his hands and tucked them under his chin in such a perfect, sophisticated manner was just so…

The redhead turned back around haltingly, glancing a few times over his shoulder where his static rival sat. It proved to do little good, however, as Dexter could still feel the others eyes watching him from behind.

In an attempt to ignore the tingling on the back of his neck, the genius pulled out some vocabulary sheets from his binder to study.

**Soporific -** causing sleep. _Like this class._

**Insipid** - boring; stateless, dull. _Just like this class._

**Licentious** - lacking moral restraint. _When will I _ever _use a word like this? _

**Effervescent** - bubbly; spirited. _Exactly like DeeDee. _

**Obstreperous** - noisy; rambunctious; uncontrolled. _An even better word to describe my hyperactive fool of a sister..._

**Impervious** - hardened; not capable of being affected. _That would be Mandark...sometimes..._

**Laconic** - using few words, concise. _Ha, if anything Mandark is just the opposite of this. His grand speeches would rival that of Jefferson...and after his long rants I'll feel ..._

**Enervated **- deprived of strength; weakened _...yet invigorated at the same time…He's truly an..._

**Enigma** - mystery, something not easily explained …_that I'll probably never be able to figure out as long as I live. _

_For example, why is he staring at me with that cattish grin? Is he purposefully trying to..._

**Unnerve - to make somebody nervous **_…me? _

"Time." The teacher called, glancing at the clock. "Great job everyone, see you in two days." She said unenthusiastically.

A few students murmured their thanks as they closed their binders, packed away their pens and pencils, and exited the room. The redhead fiddled with some of his papers, watching Mandark leave the classroom in the corner of his eye.

Dexter then sighed with relief, neatly snapping the papers back into his binder as he stood up to leave. The reprieve was short-lived, however, once he walked out the door.

--

**Contemptible - **hateful, scornful

**Rebuke – **to tell somebody off

**Irreverence - **disrespect

**Quiescent – **inactive, or at rest

**Emend – **to correct text to improve it, not to be confused with amend which usually refers to correcting a bill

**Indolently – **in this case, lazily, lethargically

**Reticent – **reserved, unwilling to talk freely or communicate

**Assiduously – **persistent and hardworking

**Transient – **lasting for a short time, fleeting

**Incisive – **quick to understand

**Reprieve - to** offer respite, a temporary relief from something. Usually postponement of someone's punishment, you could call the class a punishment for Dexter…

**Ah, school is coming. **

**Here's to you, summer.  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything. I mean, this IS . If that's not hint enough, then I don't know what is.**

"Dexter." An arrogant voice made Dexter flinch in surprise. "Ngh!"

Mandark raised an eyebrow, but Dexter quickly regained his composure.

"...Mandark." The other genius acknowledged with a leery glance. He turned to walk down the stairs (their prep room was on the second floor), but halted suddenly.

"You first." The redhead crossed his arms warily and looked at the raven-haired teen with a paranoid gleam in his eyes.

Mandark shrugged, and proceeded slowly down the flight of stairs. "What, afraid I'll push you?"

"Maybe." Dexter muttered, following his rival from behind.

"I can see the headlines now - Local boy found dead in supine position, possibly pushed down stairs."

"That is far too protracted for a headline, Mandark."

"Hm."

The two descended the rest of the stairs in silence…when suddenly…

_She wants to touch me (Woah!),_

_She wants to love me (Woah!),_

_She'll never leave me (Woah, woah, oh, oh!!),_

_Don't trust a ho!_

_Never trust a ho!_

_Won't trust a ho…_

Fumbling with his bag ("man purse" as DeeDee had aptly dubbed it), Dexter fished out his cell phone. Mandark stared at him with an incredulous and amused look on his face.

"Hi Mom," The redhead greeted, pointedly turning away from his archrival.

"Dexter!" His vivacious mother chirped happily, the sounds of laughter in the background. "Honey, can you get a ride with one of your friends? My book club - He did WHAT, Muriel?!"

"…a ride…with one of my friends?" Her son repeated slowly.

"- Oh, that's absolutely HILARIOUS - Sorry, dear, what? Otherwise you can always call DeeDee, she needs to practice her driving anyways -"

"No, no, that's okay!" Dexter interrupted vehemently, recalling the LAST time he'd been in the car when the blonde was behind the wheel - an experience he was loathed to repeat. "I'll, um, get a ride." He added with uncertainty. "Somehow."

His mother, evidently preoccupied with the latest escapade of Mrs. Smith, said a cheery good-bye and hung up.

Dexter sighed, lowering the phone from his ear and looking at the screen for a moment. The words "Call Ended" flashed back at him in a strangely embittering fashion.

"Nice ring tone." Mandark commented after some time. "I didn't realize you indulged in the pop culture cult that is 3Oh3."

"I don't. DeeDee likes to switch my ring tone whenever she gets a chance." The redhead rolled his eyes.

"Ah. You didn't seem the type." The other smirked. "What's that strange hand signal they do?" He asked, half to himself and half to Dexter, as he raised his hands up to form a triangular shape.

"That's not it. You make a circle and three fingers on each, like this." Dexter demonstrated, lifting his hands in the fashion he had often seen DeeDee mimic.

"You sure you're not part of the cult?" The raven-haired teen smirked.

"Their egregious antics might elicit a chuckle from me, once in a while. But no, all the convincing in the world wouldn't make me pander to one of DeeDee's favorite bands."

"Nice use of vocabulary." Mandark complimented unexpectedly.

"I think I deserve another point just for that one."

"Sure. But it'll cost you a point to get a ride home with me." The other replied.

As if on cue, Mandark's mother pulled into the parking lot and honked twice. Dexter stared, taken aback at the effervescent colors of the van, with rainbows, hot-pink hearts, peace signs, bright yellow daisies all embellishing the lavender purple pastel background.

The raven-haired teen waved back, and began walking towards the van.

Dexter stood in silence for a moment, wondering whether or not Mandark's last remark had indicated an invitation of sorts.

The teen looked over his shoulder, as if he had read the other boy's thoughts, "Are you coming or not?"

Looking back at him with an expression of surprise, the genius ran to catch up.

* * *

**Vocabulary words used:**

**Leery - suspicious, regarding someone with suspicion**

**warily / ware - cautious, showing suspicion**

**supine - lying on your back**

**protracted - lasting a long time, drawn out**

**vivacious - lively and high spirited**

**vehemently / vehement - done with conviction or intense feeling; or done forcefully**

**loathed - to strongly dislike something or somebody. Not to be confused with loath, which means to be reluctant. I could use either, but I just wanted to emphasize that DeeDee is a bad driver and therefore Dexter would really hate to have her drive him back home.  
**

**embittering - kind of self-explanatory, but to make bitter or to make worse**

**indulge - allow yourself to enjoy something (usually something pleasurable)**

**egregious - flagrant, conspicuously bad or offensive**

**elicit - provoke a reaction, draw out something (usually something hidden)**

**pander - to indulge somebody's weaknesses or questionable wishes and tastes; also to procure sexual favors...but obviously in this case it is the first definition**

**effervescent - used last chapter, but basically high spirited, lively**

**embellishing / embellish - to beautify something by adding decoration**

**Hello peoples. Next Chapter Olga is coming in :] I really love her; she's so psychotic. Just like me. Hope you enjoyed this vocab-filled chapter (who said fanfiction doesn't teach you anything?) The great thing about this is that there's no end to words. **


	5. Chapter 5

Mandark strode up to the van, opening the door with a rough pull. "You can sit in the ba-"

He stopped when he saw his sister, Olga, occupying one of the seats. "-ck….."

Olga, formerly preoccupied with her Gameboy, looked up. Her bored frown turned into a cheerful smile when she saw Dexter.

"Hi Dexter!" She greeted cheerfully (a bit _too _cheerfully, in Mandark's opinion). "Hi, _Susan_." She added with a disingenuous smile that belied her true nature.

"Why are you here?! I thought you had ballet practice." He demanded, clearly averse to the idea of her sitting next to Dexter.**(1)**

"I did, but it got canceled." Olga replied, impervious to Mandark's patent disgruntlement with the situation. "So are we giving Dexter a ride or was he just walking you to the car?"

"We are." Her brother snapped back before Olga could say anything else mildly suggestive. "Get in." He ordered to Dexter in a calmer, yet still imperative, tone.

The redhead climbed into the back seat while Mandark grudgingly seated himself in the front seat of the van. Mandark's mother, Ocean Bird **(2) **gave Dexter a warm smile. "Hello, Dexter. How are you?" To Mandark's surprise, she actually sounded like a typical mother and not the hippie and political activist she was in the sixties and seventies.

"Good, thank you. And you?" He replied automatically.

"Just groovy!"

…On second thought, never mind.

Her son groaned and muttered under his breath."Please...just drive..."

Flashing a peace sign at Dexter, his mother revved up the engine and started backing out of the parking lot. Mandark prayed that today Ocean Bird would focus more on driving and not converse in her embarrassing hippie jargon.

Unfortunately, nothing was stopping Olga from suddenly becoming a Chatty Cathy. **(3)**

"So Dexter, how's it going?" She asked, scooting closer to him as much as the seat belt would allow.

"It's going pretty well, actually…and yourself?"He inquired politely, for the sake of avoiding awkward silence.

"Great! I auditioned and got the lead role in a play." She smiled, leaning in even closer. Olga glanced at the front with a smile, knowing that Mandark was watching them in the rear view mirror.

"Oh? That's nice. What play?"

"It's a play that a drama teacher wrote. She's still deciding on a name but for now we call it _Time After Time. _You should come watch it when we perform!" The raven-haired girl gave him another wide , yet somewhat creepy smile. "I could get you a free ticket."

"Heh. Um…" The genius began to feel rather uncomfortable. He searched for words to politely decline, but none came to him.

"And we're going to have a party afterward and everything, so you could meet a bunch of new people and make friends…" She continued, unperturbed by Dexter's hesitation.

"Er…"

Mandark chimed in to Dexter's rescue. "Don't feel obligated to go."

"But Mandark's going to play the cello, too! Aren't you, Mandark?" Olga turned her head to face the front with that same evil, beaming smile of hers.

"Only for a few scenes." Her brother insisted. Dexter, now intrigued, raised his eyebrow at this serendipitous find.

"I didn't know you played an instrument, Mandark." He commented slowly.

"Well, actually-"

"He's a genius at it." Olga cut him off. "He's amazing. You should really come and watch!" She cajoled, but there was no more need for convincing.

"When is it?" He inquired amenably.

"In about three months. We don't have an exact date yet, BUT .." She took out her cell phone and switched it on. "Why don't you give me your cell phone number so I can text you the details later?"

"Sure." The redhead agreed - in a strangely cooperative fashion. He recited his number from memory as Olga punched it in, and just for good measure she repeated it back to him. Mandark sat quietly and listened (of course, he was memorizing the number.)

"Cool." Mandark's sister flipped her phone shut with a satisfying snap.

--

**(1) Averse isn't to be confused with adverse, which is used with abstract nouns - usually "circumstance(s) or condition(s)" while averse is usually used with a person's reluctance or opposition towards something.**

**(2) …I'm not kidding, they call her Ocean Bird in the show instead of mom because she's a hippie (and does not wish to conform to societal norms). Frankly, it kind of makes writing this easier since she has several names I can use for her.**

**(3) My teacher used this term to describe someone who was being really talkative. **

--

**Disingenuous – not genuinely sincere, withholding information**

**Averse – opposed to something**

**Impervious- remaining unmoved and unaffected by other people's opinions, arguments, or suggestions, hardened**

**Patent – clear or obvious**

**Disgruntle – verb, to irritate or dissatisfy somebody; noun, irritation**

**Jargon – a specialist language of a group, profession, or culture that usually is not understood by ordinary people, or unintelligible language that is meaningless. In this case it is either definition – since hippies were part of the youth and cultural movement in America during the seventies**

**Unperturbed – unworried, not concerned**

**Serendipitous – discovery of something fortunate**

**Cajole – to persuade gently**

**Amenably – willing to cooperate**


	6. Chapter 6

Oceanbird pulled up to Dexter's driveway with a smile. "Have a good afternoon, Dexter! It's so nice to meet Sus - I mean, Manny's friends." She corrected herself with a glare from her son.

"Thank you for the ride Mrs. Astronominov." The redhead replied, opening the van's door and stepping out. "Um, see you guys around…" He added, shifting his eyes between Mandark and his sister before closing the door.

"Bye." The raven-haired teen gave a nod of his head.

Olga waved with a winsome air, almost coquettish in her gestures. "See you, Dexter!"

Mandark sighed with relief when Dexter exited, but naturally Oceanbird had to throw in a friendly, neighborly comment about the flowers in the yard...

"Tell your mother that her tulips are totally radical!" Mandark's mother called after him as he entered the house. Dexter gave her a weird look, nodded slowly, and stepped in.

"Mother! Just take us home already!" The raven-haired teen hissed. "God, you two have to be so embarrassing!"

"We just love you that much, Suzy." Olga leaned back in her seat and smiled.

"I can't believe you invited him…" Mandark grumbled. "Why would you even do that?"

"It was a good conversation starter! You always create such awkward moments." Olga added. "Plus now you're going to HAVE to play the cello well, or else you'll look like a failure in front of him."

"I never wanted a role in that play. It's stupid." He growled, crossing his arms.

She shrugged. "Too bad."

--

**Later that afternoon...**

Mandark welded two pieces of flaming red iron together. The iridescent glow cast the rest of his laboratory in a burning red complimented by dark shadows as he worked laboriously to complete the finishing touches.

"Hmm…" He murmured to himself thoughtfully, turning over the melded metals in their holders. "Not my best work, but it'll do."

The raven-haired teen left the iron to cool as he made his calculations. "Ah, Science, my raison d'être. What would I do without you?" He asked himself aloud in a rhetorical manner.

"Probably have a life, like everyone else on this planet." His sister answered, poking her head through the doorway.

"I'm handling very dangerous tools in here," Her brother waved her away dismissively. "Go read your manga. I'm busy."

"Mmhm, because a pencil in your hands is the most dangerous thing you could have." Olga rolled her eyes, looking at the pencil as it moved across the page. "The most powerful weapon of nerd known to man, the pencil is infamous for its slaughtering on the SAT battlefield." She laughed.

He gave her a wan smile. "Haha, very funny. Now leave." Not wanting to waste any more time, he turned back to his paper.

She entered and strolled around the room as if it were her very own, ignoring his protests. She gave a perfunctory glance at Mandark's computations - mostly things she couldn't hope to comprehend, but they looked interesting nonetheless. Her eyes caught something on the wall.

"Why do you have a complete blueprint of Dexter's lab?" She inquired, staring at it. It was pinned to the wall in a neat fashion, and was actually quite new.

"Because I need it to invade him." Mandark paused and corrected himself. "His lab."

"...I see. I guess that explains all of the little footnotes." She squinted at the map, where her brother had used green ink to denote weak areas of the laboratory, and black ink to designate which armies of robots would attack which certain sectors. Phrases like "poor structural integrity", "maximum security", "area where significant experiments are kept" dotted the blueprint. Overall, it was a very organized and thoroughly thought out plan of invasion.

"You'd think he'd change stuff around though." She commented. "How can you be sure that everything's in the same place when you do attack?"

"Hmm? Oh, that map was updated about an hour ago. I constantly check my radar for updates." Mandark murmured, almost completely immersed in his mathematical formulas. He tapped his marker against some numbers, as though it would magically give him the answer if he did so.

"…A radar?" She wrinkled her nose at him. "Oookay then….stalker." Her brother gave no indication that he had heard her, and continued working.

Olga suddenly spotted a vase filled with rolled up maps, just like the one that was on the wall. "Can I look through the old ones?"

"Whatever, go ahead." Once again, Mandark was still lost in his own world of robotics and mathematics.

She picked one at random and unfurled it. "The first of April, 2005." She muttered aloud unconsciously. "Wow…"

The blueprint was less detailed than the current one, but still covered with countless markings made by Mandark. Even though it was one of the earlier maps, it was almost as elaborate and detailed as the current one. And of course, it was also color coded the exact same way. Green for useful commentary, black for allocating his armies, but also…

"How come you edited it in red?"

The raven-haired teen tore away from his calculations to give her a confused look. "What? I haven't yet."

"No, I mean for this one. The April 2005 one."

"Oh. All the past ones are like that. They're for me to learn from my mistakes."

Looking closer, Olga could see that he was right. Circles of red with the words "needed more reinforcement", "poor lack of judgment", and "unexpected defenses" popped up throughout the map. It was strange how thorough and meticulous Mandark was about the entire affair. She shifted through the rest of the maps, which were all neatly organized by date (or at least, they had been before she started perusing them).

Olga had spent her childhood alternating between hanging out with her ballet and theater friends. Apparently, Mandark had spent most of it plotting Dexter's demise - she wasn't quite sure if that was a step up or step down from holing himself up in the laboratory and building inventions that the world would never see for another decade.

"The first of May, 2005…The second of June, 2005…The third of July, also 2005…why start at the beginning of every month? Doesn't it get a little too predictable?" She asked.

"No, no. It follows a sequence - 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13 and so on. It's called the Fibonacci sequence, one of the most famous mathematical sequences in history. I thought it would be amusing to see if Dexter caught onto it."

"Did he?"

"Oh yes, but by the time he figured it out, half of the year was already over." Mandark paused and smiled in reminiscence. "He was so irritated when he finally realized it."

"So you _wanted _him to figure it out?" She asked with a bewildered stare.

He shrugged. "It was amusing to see how long it would take. But yes, it was meant to be rather obvious." He gave a small chuckle and shook his head fondly. "I love perplexing him..."

At long last, Mandark stepped back with a satisfied sigh at his calculations.

"You're done?"

"Of course not." He scoffed at her. "Now I'm going to double check them."

* * *

**winsome - charming  
**

**coquettish - flirtatious, esp. if it's a woman  
**

**iridescent - lustrous, brilliant. also rainbow colors**

**raison d'être - French for "reason for being", justification for one's existence, etc. (a word adopted from French)**

**wan - faint, but usually pale. In this case I meant faint and not pale, obviously**

**perfunctory - done hastily or superficially**

**-**-

**To address some issues...yes Dexter and Mandark have cellphones in the show. I think it's in the episode 2 geniuses 2 gether 4 ever (clever title, eh?) And even if they didn't, I think it'd make sense for them to have it anyways considering they could just build a mobile phone in like, five minutes. And this is just fanfiction, anyways.**

**So yeah, just pointing out. **

**Oh yeah and I used the word map and blueprint as synonyms. Because I felt really boring using the word blueprint over and over again.  
**

**Anyhow, next chapter gets a little more exciting.  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**4:55 PM**

Dexter sat in his laboratory, reading the enthralling tale of The Time Machine. In the background there was only the gentle hum of whirring machines as they performed their various duties and functions - from air conditioning to preserving bacterial cultures. All in all, it was the typical, relaxing summer day where he could just kick back and read a good book -

_SMASH!_

That is, until Mandark and a gigantic robot army came crashing through the ceiling. As it crumbled, bits of rubble slammed into the ground, bouncing and rolling away like marbles as they scattered throughout the now partially ruined laboratory. A piece of the ceiling landed right in front of the redhead with a large _bang!_, while he looked upon it with a bored and somewhat exasperated look rather than fear. Hundreds of robots, divided neatly into platoons, filed into their assigned sectors to fight Dexter's defenses and wreck havoc wherever possible. Their shining metallic casings gleamed in the light, like knights in shining armor. They clashed with Dexter's defense bots, seeming equally formidable in battle.

Dexter calmly placed a bookmark on his page and set it down on his desk. He waited in his chair as Mandark scrambled down from one of his robots to give his usual invasion speech.

"Behold, Dexter! My pièce de résistance. The full extent of my robot army!" The raven-haired teen announced with a flamboyant gesture. "At last, your lab will be destroyed…FOREVER!"

"Not your best work, eh Mandark?" The redhead raised an eyebrow.

His rival cringed sheepishly. "Is it that easy to tell?"

"It looks like they're having a hard time, even with my defense on autopilot." Dexter commented, watching as the majority of Mandark's army got pummeled and aggregated into one corner."Planning on superannuating them later?"

"Well I suppose I could melt them down and use their scrap metal to build an even better one." Mandark shrugged.

"Pity. Imagine the unnecessary entropy you've engendered from constructing them." The redhead smirked. "Well I guess I didn't even need to get out of my seat for this one, if that's really all you've got to offer."

"Yeah…it is a real pity…" Mandark shook his head, then raised his arm to eye level. "For you, I mean." He pushed a seemingly harmless button on his watch.

"What are you - " Dexter's eyes widened. Before he could even finish his sentence, there was another crash - though not of the physical kind.

The sound of his Computer's voice called out. Despite its automated tone, there was an underlying hint of anxiety. "Dex-ter…A virus has been detect-" The drone of whirring machines stopped suddenly - making a noise that was similar to the plug being pulled on an appliance while it was still running.

And just like that, all of Dexter's machines which had depended on the Computer for their resources, stopped.

As a result, a blackout occurred, engulfing everything in complete darkness. The only source of light was the glowing of the clashing robot armies and the raven-haired teen's red and black cape - which he had conveniently studded with red, glow-in-the-dark stones just for the occasion.

Dexter only had one thing to say to him. "…You suck!"

Mandark bowed. "Thank you."

"I assume you took away my backup power too?" The redhead sighed.

"Rerouted straight to my laboratory." The other quipped casually.

"_And _disabled Computer's automated reboot mechanism?"

"But of course."

Silence.

Well, except for the raging battle between the armies.

Dexter slowly reached into one of the many lab coat pockets, feeling for a small and seemingly harmless metal disk.

Mandark only smiled. "I know what you're planning, Dexter." The redhead paused in his movements, but grasped the disk tightly. "...but I'll give you the liberty of attacking first."

The genius narrowed his eyes. "What's the catch?"

The raven-haired teen merely shrugged. "No catch...I'm just certain you wouldn't be able to land a single punch on me."

"_Ataque!_" Dexter lunged at Mandark, as his right arm was rapidly covered by a thick steel casing at the vocalized command. Within seconds it had taken a form that encased his entire arm and provided substantial protection for his fist.

His rival leaped back, raising his left arm. "_Proteja!" _A prepared shield made of a series of scale-like sheets folded outwards from a layer that covered his arm. It was pitch black except for a string of glowing red lights that blinked in a haphazard fashion - designed specifically to confuse the opponent while in the darkness.

"I see you've started investing in strobe lights, Mandark." Dexter remarked, doing his best not to get drawn into flashing bits of color. He blinked a few times, trying to focus on only the glowing red cape as a target. He threw another punch, without success as Mandark leaped backwards.

"Lovely, aren't they?" The raven-haired teen smiled, his white teeth only slightly visible in the dark. His rival growled and aimed for the teeth, but his fist ricocheted once again.

The two engaged in a short cat-and-mouse like skirmish, with Dexter on offense and Mandark on defense. The raven-haired teen would continuously dodge, deflect, and dodge again as Dexter threw punch after punch. Within a few minutes, Dexter suddenly had an epiphany. "You're just trying to tire me -"

Mandark unfastened his glowing cape and threw it at Dexter. It temporarily clouded his vision with the neon red glow as his rival darted away.

"Agh!" The redhead grabbed the cape, flinging it to one side before it could distract him any further. But by the time he had, Mandark had disappeared.

Instinctively, the genius looked over his shoulder, trying to detect the glowing red shield before his rival could attack him. His heart beat wildly in his chest, though he told himself this was only Mandark's way to psych him out, it was nothing new, just calm down…

He couldn't hear any sign of Mandarkl over the battling robots. All he knew was that his rival was somewhere nearby, watching and waiting for Dexter to let his guard down.

_Unless that's what he _wants _me to think. _The redhead thought. _He could be off in another part of my lab, doing God knows what, while I'm sitting here waiting for an ambush that will never come._

"MANDARK! Come out and face me like a man!" Dexter shouted at the infuriating darkness. His call echoed off the walls and was lost in the cacophony of the fray.

Dexter slowly stepped backwards, still looking about himself warily. A million possibilities and solutions ran through his mind, but with Computer hopelessly defenseless he had very little means to carry them out. Not to mention, he hadn't eaten for about five hours and his hunger was making it extremely difficult to focus.

Without realizing it, he backed into his desk. "Gah!" Thinking it was Mandark he turned around and made a futile punch at the air.

Dexter blushed, though fortunately it was too dark to tell anyways._ I really hope he didn't see that. _He thought.

"How _embarrassing." _An amused chuckle rang through the air, followed by a swift tackle that took Dexter by surprise.

Mandark pinned Dexter to the desk, scattering the once neatly organized stacks of papers into disheveled messes. A few pens and pencils clattered to the ground, and the desk groaned under their combined weights.

"Get off!" The redhead threw another punch with his encased fist, only to have it deflected. The unanticipated attack had knocked the wind out of the genius, who struggled with shallow breaths to throw the other boy off of his body.

"Let me think about that for a moment - NO!" Mandark retorted, grabbing Dexter's right wrist and restraining him. Using his larger body and the element of surprise to his advantage, Mandark used his free hand to bring out the last part of his diabolical plan. **(1)**

Dexter growled. "Mandark!"

--

**5:10 PM (Simultaneously)**

**The McPhearson Household**

"What on earth is taking that boy so long?" Mrs. McPhearson, Dexter's mother, tapped her foot impatiently.

"Maybe I should go up and tell him." Her husband offered, getting up from his seat.

"I'll do it, dad!" The blonde interjected, quickly hopping out of her chair.

"Alright." Mr. McPhearson sat back down, looking eagerly at the cooling food before them. "Honey, can't I just take one bite? I'm sure Dexter wouldn't mind."

"Not until the whole family is at the table and we've said grace." She rebuked sternly.

He sighed, still eyeing the food.

"I just don't want him holed up in his room, doing God only knows what." His wife sighed with frustration. "We've always been eating dinner at five PM sharp, but he's never ready. Just what could be so important that he's ten minutes late?"

"Honey, maybe he's just…" Her husband trailed off hesitantly.

"Just what?" She narrowed his eyes, about ready to dish out her angry mother death glare.

Mr. McPhearson coughed, squirming uncomfortably in his seat under the gaze of his wife. "Well, you know...he's just about hit _that _age."

--

**DeeDee's POV**

"DEXTER! Time for dinner!" DeeDee called, throwing open the door to her brother's room without a second thought. As expected, her brother was nowhere in sight.

She quickly glanced downstairs where her parents were speaking in hushed voices. Neither one was paying attention to what she was doing.

Closing the door delicately behind her, the blonde quickly bounced over to the "secret" entrance just behind the bookcase. Unfortunately, since the laboratory's power was out, the electronic door couldn't open.

"Hmm." She frowned, trying to remember the manual procedure for entering. "Oh, right!"

She reached behind the shelf until she felt a small, rubber lever. Pulling it downwards, she stepped back as the shelf began to move on a non-automated system. She never had figured out how the non-electronic way worked, but she guessed that the lever forced something to push the shelf sideways.

Without another thought, she peered down the normally lightened passageway into the laboratory. The blackout certainly brought a lot of annoying detours for her.

"He wouldn't mind if I just borrowed his flashlight for a second…" She shrugged, grabbing said object off the book shelf. Clicking it on, she descended into the laboratory.

The sounds of clanging metal were brought to her ears as she neared the battle. "Oooooh." Glowing blue and red robots fought violently around her, engaging in an almost hypnotic dance. They leaped back and forth, lunging and retreating, in a lavish display of skill and ability. Their colors coruscated upon the walls of the laboratory, going to and fro in an intense, vigorous rhythm. Yet their combined brightness was not enough to illuminate the entire laboratory; most sectors remained pitch black if there was no fighting in them.

"Dexter?" DeeDee asked, peering around her as much as she could, given the darkness. She cautiously evaded the fighting robots - not wanting to get involved in the battle.

Dexter's voice, seeming somewhat hoarse, shouted "Mandark!"

"Where are you, Dexter?" DeeDee called, running to the source of the sound. As she neared the source, she could hear ragged breaths and panting.

"...It's too much for -" The desk creaked and groaned once more. DeeDee gasped, her eyes widening at what she heard. "…you'll break -!"

"Quit making excuses and just give in already." Mandark's voice pierced through the air like a knife.

"No!"

"Just relax, look me in the eyes, and it'll be a lot easier for the both of us..."

"NEVER! Let me go!"

"Beg." Mandark's tone dropped to a sadistic murmur.

"I-I'm not going to beg to the likes of you!"

"Oh? And what if I do _this?"_

"Ah!" Dexter cried out. "Stop!"

"You were asking for it. Now, for the main event…" The raven-haired teen whispered huskily.

"No, anything but that-!"

"DEXTER!" DeeDee screamed, running out and waving her flashlight desperately. "DON'T YOU DARE RAPE MY LITTLE BROTHER, YOU SICKO!" She yelled, throwing the flashlight for all it was worth.

It hit Mandark in the head and clattered to the ground, rolling in such a fashion as to show the two genii - fully clothed and lying on the still creaking desk. Mandark was holding up some sort of memory-erasing gadget to Dexter's face, while the redhead was restrained by his other arm.

"What?!" Mandark yelped in surprise, momentarily distracted. "I'm not-"

Dexter took this opportunity to throw the teen off of him. The device fell to the ground, where the redhead triumphantly crushed it with the heel of his boots. "Success! I AM VICTORIOUS!"

...And _then_ he realized what DeeDee had said.

"…YOU THOUGHT HE WAS _WHAT_?!" **(2)**

* * *

**enthralling - delightful, engaging a person's attention completely**

**formidable - difficult to deal with, awe-inspiring**

**pièce de résistance - derived from French; the most impressive thing, the thing that brings the greatest pride. It's also used to refer to the most important dish of a meal. In this case, Mandark's just trying to psych Dexter out...it's not really his best work but he CLAIMS it is.**

**aggregate - bring things together **

**superannuate - two defs; either to retire, or to get rid of something because it is obsolete. Either one works in this case, but I meant the second definition.**

**entropy - a measure of disorder. This isn't a vocab word, per se, but I wanted to throw it in. Entropy is energy that can't be used for work. Since energy can not be created nor destroyed, whenever you do work you'll also have a certain amount of entropy. **

**engender - create or arise**

_Ataque - _Spanish, imperative/imperativo tense for "Attack!"

_Proteja - _Spanish, imperative/imperativo tense for "Protect!" I couldn't find "shield" so I used that instead. At least now I'll remember them for my Spanish test later...LOL.

**haphazard - unplanned**

**epiphany - a sudden realization**

**cacophony - combination of loud, usually jarring sounds. (metal clashing on metal as the robots fight)**

**coruscate - to give off flashes of bright light, glitter, be/look brilliant**

**--**

**(1) I was going to say "reached a free hand into his pants..." but then I realized how easily you could take that the wrong way. Hehe. **

**(2) Since it's read from DeeDee's POV this requires an explanation which will be provided by Dexter in the next chapter. Naturally you may read it as you see fit~  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**After Dinner**

**Upstairs, McPhearson household**

"I cannot _believe _you would think that."

"Dexter I am so, so sorry for yelling that-"

Her brother marched down the hallway, more incensed than ever. "Sorry does not take away the horrifying humiliation you have caused me."

"I didn't know what was going on! You would've thought the same thing if you were me!" DeeDee followed her brother into his room. "Dexter! Tell me what happened!"

He stopped in his tracks and sighed. "If I do, will you stop bothering me and leave me in peace?"

She nodded. "Pinky swear!" DeeDee offered her right pinky, which Dexter regarded with a frigid glance. DeeDee crossed her heart with it instead.

"Have a seat," He gestured to his bean-bag chair, which she immediately threw herself onto. He placed himself on his bed, facing her.

"Here's what _really _happened…"

_Mandark pinned Dexter to the desk, scattering the once neatly organized stacks of papers into disheveled messes. A few pens and pencils clattered to the ground, and the desk groaned under their combined weights._

_"Get off!" The redhead threw another punch with his encased fist, only to have it deflected. The unanticipated attack had knocked the wind out of the red haired genius, who struggled with shallow breaths to throw the other boy off of his body._

_"Let me think about that for a moment - NO!" Mandark retorted, grabbing Dexter's wrists and restraining him. Using his larger body and the element of surprise to his advantage, Mandark used his free hand to bring out the last part of his diabolical plan._

_Dexter growled. "Mandark!"_

_The raven-haired teen took out a small, rectangular device. It was similar to scanners used in convenience stores -with an oblong screen that glowed a vibrant red (unsurprisingly enough.)_

_"I have in my hands a machine that can erase all of your memories with a push of the button." His rival explained in a low tone. "It's taken me years to perfect." _

_Dexter gasped. "You're bluffing." He accused, trying to stall for time in case Mandark really wasn't bluffing._

"I don't bluff." The other smirked. "Any last words?"

"You don't want to do this."The red-haired genius whispered, his eyes darting from side to side as he tried to find an escape. "Mandark…you don't want to do this." He attempted to rationalize.

"If I didn't we wouldn't be here right now." The raven-haired teen leaned even closer to Dexter, causing the desk to creak raucously. 

_"You'll…we'll fall! It's too much for - "As if to supplement his protests, the table groaned once more. "…you'll break-!"_

_"Quit making excuses and just give in already." Mandark's voice pierced through the air like a knife._

_"No!" He refused._

_Mandark raised the device to eye level. "Just relax, look me in the eyes, and it'll be a lot easier for the both of us..."_

_"NEVER! Let me go!"Dexter shouted, struggling wildly to escape. He might have succeeded, but the glowing red of the gadget filled his vision and he stopped. The lights began to twinkle merrily, in a mesmerizing pattern that he couldn't tear his eyes away from._

_"Beg." Mandark's tone dropped to a sadistic murmur._

_"I-I'm not going to beg to the likes of you!" The genius forcefully averted his eyes, trying to delay the inevitable for as long as possible. _

_Mandark's eye twitched in annoyance at Dexter's blatant contumacy. "Oh? And what if I do this?" The raven-haired teen twisted Dexter's arm painfully._

_"Ah!" Dexter cried out, arching his back in pain. "Stop!"_

_"You were asking for it. Now, for the main event…" The raven-haired teen whispered huskily._

_"No, anything but that-!" _

"…and I'm sure you know the rest." Finished Dexter abruptly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to repair my lab and expunge all traces of the invasion before he strikes again."

Regardless of Dexter's clear desire to be alone, DeeDee followed him in anyways with a thoughtful countenance adorning her face.

**Simultaneously**

**Mandark's Laboratory, Astronominov household**

"So, invasion didn't go as planned, eh?" Olga asked with a jocund smile. She sat down on the table - her petite body was light enough to do so without breaking it - and languidly dangled her legs off the edge. Her brother remained silent, marking the map of Dexter's lab with corrections courtesy of his red pen.

"Earth to Susan." She waved a hand in front of his face. "Hellooo?"

"Why are you suddenly so interested?" He snapped back. The red pen quivered so slightly that it was almost too infinitesimal to detect.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet?" She countered. "You ALWAYS rant about this stuff. Even when I _don't _want to listen."

Her brother turned away and obdurately continued his editing. The room fell into an uneasy silence, interrupted only by the strident scribbles of pen on paper. Each word seemed to be lacerated into the desk with sharp, brusque strokes.

This continued for another minute before Mandark suddenly and unexpectedly threw the pen across the map with an exasperated sigh. "Forget it! I'm going to bed."

"Susan?" Olga called, but her brother had already turned heel and left. She remained seated on the table, bewildered, as sanguine ink bled into the paper.

* * *

**Vocabulary:**

**incense - inflame with wrath**

**frigid - cold**

**oblong - elongated, usually rectangular **

**raucous - harsh, strident, grating. (WOO, the Great Gatsby!)**

**supplement - something added to complete a thing, to reinforce or extend**

**expunge - to eradicate or obliterate**

**countenance - appearance, esp but not limited to the expression of one's face**

**jocund - cheerful, merry, joyous**

**languid - lazily, slowly**

**infinitesimal - indefinitely or exceedingly small, immeasurably small**

**obdurate - stubborn**

**strident - (no, not the gum)**

**lacerate - jagged, deep cuts, or to rip, cut, or tear**

**brusque - abrupt, blunt, rough**

**sanguine - the color of blood**

**

* * *

**

**Sorry this Ch was so short. I actually sort of have a plan for this story, for once! ~**

**And I got a decent SAT score. I swear, this helped me achieve it. SO Ya'll should join me and write stories with SAT words. So much more fun than actually studying**


	9. Chapter 9

Staring at the aftermath of yesterday's battle, Dexter gave a drawn-out sigh. Various robot parts, panels of the ceiling, wiring, and lighting littered the floor of his lab. He wished Mandark had chosen a more judicious method of invading, but then again it's not like either of them was about to change their habits.

"It's always inopportune for me, but not for him..." The redhead grumbled as he began collecting the scattered nuts and bolts. "My robot army, my ceiling, and my Computer … and this entire mess I have to clean up on my own!"

He was about to continue his ramble when his boot caught on something and tripped him. Dexter landed ungracefully on his behind, his shoe twisted in a knot of red fabric.

_Wait…_

He pulled off the fabric and unraveled it. "His cape. Now I have to return his stupid cape to him too?" The genius grumbled, throwing it unceremoniously onto a random desk. "I really don't have the time for this…" He muttered, rolling up his sleeves as he began the painful and arduous task of fixing his laboratory. "But I think I will pay Mandark a visit later…"

Mandark had been unable to go to sleep that night, and had been tossing and turning restlessly. It wasn't until the early morning hours that he finally fell into a peaceful sleep, once he popped a melatonin pill.

It wasn't typical for Mandark to dream. Usually he woke up with vague fragments of his dream tugging at his consciousness, but he could never piece them together to form a cohesive thought.

In truth, he was apathetic towards dreams and even towards nightmares; as far as he was concerned, there was no need to fear the subconscious because he would always wake up in the safety of his bed in (relative) normalcy. There was just a strange feeling that accompanied the first moments of wakefulness, as though he had been forcefully removed from a separate world and thrust into reality without any warning.

Increasingly, there were mornings when he'd wake up and would lie for a few moments in bed before getting up to face the day, staring at the ceiling listlessly. There wasn't any real basis behind it as far as he could tell - he wasn't depressed or unhappy, and he never had any overwhelming responsibilities that he would be reluctant to face. This behaviour certainly deviated from his normal self pre-puberty, where he would be up at the break of dawn tinkering away at his laboratory and making himself busy as a bee.

Still, these few moments weren't enough to interfere with his day to day activities, and he brushed it off as increased lethargy due to the onset of adolescence. There wasn't any need to worry as long as he could be productive, and it was much better than becoming one of those teenagers who were in bed until noon.

The day after the failed lab invasion, he found that he could recall one, just one, extraordinarily vivid detail of his dream.

_Red._

Vocabulary:

Judicious - Having, showing, or done with good judgment or sense; ie prudent

Inopportune - Not opportune; occurring at an inconvenient time; not appropriate

Unceremonious - Having or showing a lack of formality  
Arduous - Involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring

Cohesive /Cohesion - the act or state of sticking together tightly

Apathetic - Showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern

Deviate - Depart from an established course/ or acceptable standards

**Wow.** So, surprisingly, I'm not quite dead yet. I'm a college student now, so I guess that's why I stopped writing. Normally people expect college students to write a whole lot. But for me, it's pretty much just been one essay once in a blue moon. Ironic, right? I think so.

Reading over this (and my other fanfics) makes me nostalgic for the good ol' days. I guess that's why I'm submitting this at all. I'm honestly really flattered whenever I get an email that says someone reviewed one of my stories or even is following it when it's been approximately 2 years (again, **wow**) since the last update. And, I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit proud of this work. It's no novel, but I think it's at least decent writing for a girl who was like, 16 years old at the time.

I do have a winter break coming up, and I'm honestly not sure if I will update this story further or not in that time. But it's highly likely that I'll try. It's a good way to brush up on vocabulary, and I still love this couple (total guilty pleasure). Positive encouragement does help me along though, if it weren't for the email alerts telling me about the reviews and follows, then this fic would probably be completely dead. (And I mean, completely. You know those fics that haven't been updated since like, 2005? Like that, but in several more years.)

I missed fanfiction. It's silly at times, but it definitely helps for people who have issues making up their own original characters. I hope you liked this installment. I'll try and post again in maybe 2 weeks, although I have a ton of stuff to do on the 21st so maybe I'll shoot for the 20th ish. Depends on how much privacy I get too, since my parents peek over at my laptop when I'm at home (Eyeroll)


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